What *Really* happens to used Electric Car Batteries? - (you might be surprised)

What people said

cogman10 · 2023-11 · Recommendation

> Is recycling even economical today? Very much so. I suggest watching the following video to see where we are at. [1] > Won't it become less so as new batteries become cheaper? Recycling will be the key to making batteries even cheaper. Getting already refined iron, nickel, and other chemicals will be far cheaper than trying to mine these materials fresh. Very similar to how pretty much all lead acid batteries are recycled. Mining new lead is a lot more expensive than reusing old lead. Recycling isn't always economical (see paper and plastic) but in the case of batteries, it absolutely is. The biggest problem battery recycle have is there's simply not enough batteries to recycles. Demand far outstrips supply at the moment. [1] [VIDEO]

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Eric_WVGG · 2023-10 · Recommendation

During a can't-sleep youtube session, I came across a video that explains how lithium-ion battery recycling works. I previously thought everything had to be disassembled, making recycling prohibitively impractical. Turns out that's not the case at all, they can literally just throw stuff in and crush it and at least have a moderately easy time getting the raw materials of batteries out. Made me feel a little more optimistic about things. [VIDEO]

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edaemon · 2025-04 · Reference

I'm pretty sure most industrial recycling methods for lithium batteries involve grinding them up, so pack size isn't as much a factor as sheer volume. I think there just wasn't much juice for the squeeze until demand from EVs made recycling worthwhile. Here's a video inside a recycling plant: [VIDEO]

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